Go On Without Me
by driver picks the music
Summary: Red Camaro Part 11 The weather was great, it was a beautiful day. The perfect day for a first birthday party. *Kind of sad, there's a Character death, but not any of the main three that we all love so much* One-shot


**Ok so this is a one-shot and it's a little different than the rest of the series. It's not so light and fluffy, it's more sad and melancholy...I will warn you now, there's a Character death, but I have a feeling that no one will really mind that much.**

**The title of this story comes from the Brett Eldredge song of the same name. It's a really good song (all of his are) and it's what I listened to over and over while writing this.**

**More notes at the end...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Revolution or any of the characters from the show, I just like to play with them :)**

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_Every breath of life is short and sweet,_

_And I'm so happy that I'm up here, that I got to see,_

_You go on, Without me_

Charlie carried the tray of cupcakes into the dinning room and set them on the table by the stack of plastic cups and pitcher of juice.

She glanced into the living room and saw Miles, bend over, holding onto Rae's hands as she stumbled, trying to figure out how to walk across the floor to the chair where Gene sat watching his great-granddaughter with a smile on his face. Any day now they knew that she would be ready to take off and they were all going to be in trouble then, but for now she only walked when she was holding onto her favorite great Uncle. Even Danny, who Rae loved dearly, didn't get that kind of special treatment.

Charlie looked out the sliding door that lead to the patio and saw Bass manning the grill while he talked to Danny and Connor, along with Connor's wife Sara, and Danny's fiancée Anna. Chuck had called and said he would be a little late, and Monica was in the kitchen, getting the spoons and ice cream.

Aaron and his wife had sent a gift in the mail along with a note saying they were sorry to miss the party, but work had called him away and they wouldn't be back in time, but promised to come for a visit as soon as they got back.

The weather was great, it was a beautiful day. The perfect day for a first birthday party. And everyone was here.

Charlie walked over and leaned against the doorway, watching her daughter try to walk, and she smiled softly, sadly, when she thought about the one person that wasn't here.

The last year had been a whirlwind. The typical late night feedings and early morning diaper changes. The teething and earaches and doctors appointments. The lack of sleep for both new parents along with balancing their other jobs. It made for a crazy first few months for their new little family, but they both knew they wouldn't have had it any other way.

The real challenge came when Rae was around 6 months old. It was November first when Miles called Charlie and gave her the news that would forever change all of their lives.

…

**Six Months Ago**

Charlie sat on the floor in the bedroom, leaning her head back against the side of the bed. She was supposed to be folding laundry to put away while Bass made dinner and Rae played on her blanket on the floor by her crib. But last night had been another sleepless night for the teething child and nap time today didn't really work out either, and Charlie was thinking that as long as the laundry was washed, did it really need to be folding and put away right now?

So there she sat, her eyes closed, listening to the baby as she played with the soft toys around her, when her phone rang.

Opening her eyes, Charlie reached for her phone where it lay on the nightstand, and saw Miles name on the screen.

Running and hand over her eyes, she answered the phone. "Hey Miles, what's up?"

"Hey, is Bass around?" He asked.

Charlie frowned. Something sounded off. "Yeah, he's in the other room, he's making dinner, why what's going on?"

"You should call him into the room real quick."

"Miles just tell me what's going on, you're starting to freak me out." she said as she stood up.

Miles sighed. "I'm at the hospital right now," he said and Charlie gasped, but let him continue. "you're mom was on her way home from work and there was an accident."

Charlie sat down heavily on the end of the bed. "Is she...?"

Miles cleared his throat and that's when Charlie realized the weird tone was from him trying to hold it together. "She's alive, but she's been unconscious since they brought her in." he said and took a deep breath. "They are saying it doesn't look good kid, you guys need to get here as soon as you can."

Charlie raised a hand her her mouth and closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek. That was how Bass found her a moment later when he came in to tell her that dinner was ready.

"Charlie? Charlotte what's wrong?" He asked as he knelt down in front of her.

Charlie held the phone out to him with a mumbled. "It's Miles." before going over and scooping Rae up off the blanket and holding the squirming baby to her chest.

"Miles?" she heard Bass say. She heard the sharp intake of breath and the whispered "shit" and she turned back to see him run a hand through his hair and nod his head. "Yeah, where are you?" he asked. "Alright, yeah we'll be there in a few."

"Danny?" Charlie asked quickly before they hung up.

Bass asked about Danny and Miles told him he and Anna were already on their way.

Bass hung up the phone and reached for Charlie, wrapping his arms around her and Rae and holding them to his chest. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry." he said, knowing it wasn't enough, remembering from his own experience that nothing would be enough. All he could do is be there for her.

…

**Present Day**

Charlie watched Miles swing Rae up into his arms as she laughed and kicked her feet. Seeing him now he was almost like a completely different man than the one that had stood in the hallway at that hospital six months ago, sobbing into the shoulder of his best friend as Bass wrapped him in his arms, holding him together just as Miles had done for him all those years ago.

You would never guess now what a wreck he had been for months. He still has his bad days, where the grief is too much to take without a bottle to help him sleep, but Charlie fully believes it's the love of her daughter that has helped him to pull through, to come out of the other side of the tragedy that shook all of them to their core.

There were times over the last six months when she thought he was going to go too far and they wouldn't be able to pull him back, but each time she would worry, he proved her wrong, showing up at their house, sometimes in the middle of the night; freshly showered and not smelling of the booze he had come to rely on; and he would sit and hold Rae and watch her as she slept contently in his arms. Sometimes lightly touching her face or her hair gently.

It was when Charlie found them, Miles asleep in the chair in the living room with Rae asleep on his chest, her thumb in her mouth and his hand protectively on her back, that Charlie realized that she didn't have to worry anymore. She was too young to realize, and would maybe never even know, but Charlie knew without a shadow of a doubt, that Rae had saved his life. The times when he would start to think he didn't really have anything left to live for, one little girl would help him see.

"You doing OK?"

Charlie turned to the voice and smiled at her husband. "Yeah, I'm good." she said.

Bass reached around her and pulled her against his side and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Good." he said with a simple smile. "Today is a good day."

Charlie nodded and leaned against him. If Rae had saved Miles life, it was safe to say that Bass had saved hers. She really understood now what it meant when someone said their spouse was their rock. That was really the only way to describe it. Bass was steadfast and always ready to do whatever she needed him to do, always ready to be there for her or give her space when she just needed a minute alone.

And those moments when she really just wanted to talk to her mom, he always seemed to know the exact right thing to say.

…

**Three Months Ago**

When Bass got home from work Charlie was sitting on the living room floor with Rae in her lap while she looked through some old photo's that she was sorting to put into an album. And she was crying.

In the last few months this was not an unusual occurrence so Bass didn't freak out about it like he might have at one point. Instead he remained calm and sat down beside her and picked Rae up when she reached for him.

"Hey." he said gently. "What's going on?" he asked

Charlie sniffed and held up some pictures for him to see and he saw that they were pictures from the hospital the day Rae was born.

"I was just thinking about how she's never going to get the chance to know her." Charlie said. "Rae won't remember her at all." she said with another sniff.

Bass wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. Charlie turned into him slightly and wrapped an arm around his waist as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Remember when I said that I wished she could have the chance to meet my parents? Remember what you told me?" Bass asked as he leaned his head against hers.

Charlie nodded slightly. "Yeah, I told you that we would make sure that she knew them, even if they weren't here anymore, she would know all about them just as if she grew up with them."

Bass kissed the top of her head and nodded. "Right." he said. "And we'll make sure to do exactly the same thing for Rachel." he said. "Rae will know all about all of her grandparents, and how much they all would have loved her, and how happy Rachel was just to get to meet her."

Charlie lifted her head and looked at him. "Thank you." she said.

Bass smiled softly and then chuckled when Rae reached up and grabbed a handful of beard.

Charlie smiled as well as she looked at the pair, her family. "I love you." she said.

"I love you too." Bass said as he turned and looked at her. "How about we get out of here for a while? Go get some dinner?" he asked, knowing that she hadn't left the house all day.

Charlie nodded and started to get up. "That sounds great, let me just hop in the shower real quick and then we can go." she said and headed for the hall.

Before she left the room, she turned back to see Bass hold Rae up and blow a raspberry on her tummy. Rae laughed and Charlie laughed as Rae reached out and grabbed two handfuls of curls, causing Bass' face to scrunch as he tried to untangle her fingers from his hair.

He looked up at her and smiled, and Charlie knew she was going to be OK.

…

**Present Day**

The party had been a success. Everyone had had a good time visiting and playing with the birthday girl and she had had a great time having all the attention on her. Now she was sound asleep in her bed in the corner of Bass and Charlie's bedroom while her parents cleaned up the mess from the party.

"Hey." Bass said as he grabbed her hand and tugged her around to look at him. They were standing in the kitchen now, the rest of the house having been put back to order.

"Let's save the dishes for tomorrow. The kids asleep and it looks like it's just you and me now." He said with a smirk as he pulled her closer to him.

Charlie raised a brow and smirked right back at him. "You know, I think you're right about that." she said as she stepped closer. "Whatever should we do now?"

Bass grinned. "Wanna go make-out on the couch?"

Charlie laughed and let him pull her towards the other room.

Charlie knew that she would still have days when she missed her mother so much it would hurt, she would probably always feel that way to a point. But as she smiled and kissed her husband; trying to keep quiet, mindful of the sleeping child in the other room; she knew that life would go on, and she knew that Rachel would want them all to live their lives and be happy. Even if that meant they all had to do that without her.

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**OK so When I first wrote Red Camaro I said that I had put Miles and Rachel together because he loved her and I loved him enough to do that for him...that was before I knew this series was going to become what it is now. If I had realized that it was going to turn into this whole thing I wouldn't have put them together like that, because I really didn't want to write Rachel...I really really don't like her lol But I tried to make her as nice as possible, but I knew after the second story that at some point I was going to kill her off, I was just waiting for the right time to fit it in and make it seem believable to the story and not just like I wanted her gone...**

**So I thought, Charlie's happily married now and has a baby of her own and Danny is in school and happy with Anna...and I snuck that whole them being engaged thing in there if you caught that, so now would be as perfect a time to do it as I was going to get...**

**I hope you all liked how this went and we will be back to our regularly schedule Charloe goodness in the next story :)**

**And remember...**

**Reviews Make you AWESOME!**


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